Method and apparatus for generating directives for personnel

ABSTRACT

A system and method are provided for determining a recipient of an offer; and for determining an offer which includes an activity and a benefit. The system and method further provide for transmitting, to a representative, instructions to provide the offer to the recipient. The system and method further include determining whether the recipient has performed the activity, and if so providing the benefit to the recipient.

This application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application Ser. No. 60/309,972, filed Aug. 3, 2001, the contentof which is incorporated by reference herein for all purposes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for directingpersonnel, such as employees.

Casinos and other entities employ personnel in various capacities. Suchpersonnel may be employed to, e.g., assist customers, promote customersatisfaction, or similarly deal with customers in a positive manner.

Particularly in casinos, customers are players who play games of chance,such as poker, blackjack, keno and slot machines. Some games are tablebased, such as a table game of poker or blackjack, and others are playedusing devices, such as slot machines, video poker machines, videoblackjack machines and keno machines. Such games typically involve amonetary wager, where a player may win finds in the form of cash, chips,or other monetary forms.

In a casino, as in other businesses, customer satisfaction may beincreased in several ways, such as by offering better service to suchcustomers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system consistent with one embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of one embodiment of a gaming device of thesystem of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of one embodiment of a representative deviceof the system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of one embodiment of a central computer of thesystem of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a table illustrating an exemplary data structure of a playerdatabase for use in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a table illustrating an exemplary data structure of an offerdetermination database for use in an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 7 is a table illustrating an exemplary data structure of an offerdatabase for use in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a table illustrating an exemplary data structure of arepresentative database for use in an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 9 is a table illustrating an exemplary data structure of an offertracking database for use in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of one embodiment of a subsidizer device ofthe system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a process that may be performed withthe system of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Applicants have recognized that various companies spend great amounts ofmoney and other resources acquiring customers, marketing products tocustomers, and obtaining information about potential customers.

Applicants have also recognized that sales techniques of such companiesmay be improved in accordance with certain embodiments of the presentinvention.

Applicants have also recognized that personnel, such as personnel of acasino or other service or hospitality establishment, have periods oftime when they are on duty (and presumably being paid) but have no tasksto perform. Applicants have recognized that such time may be effectivelyused with certain embodiments of the present invention.

In general, an embodiment of the present invention allows an employee ofa casino or other business (the employee referred to as a“representative”) to work with a computer system to determine an offerand present it to a recipient, such as a player at a gaming device. Forexample, a representative on the floor of a casino may carry a PDA(personal digital assistant) or other device, such as a cellulartelephone or other wireless electronic device. Using the PDA, therepresentative may identify players who should receive offers.

Such an offer may comprise an activity for the player to perform, and acorresponding benefit to the player in exchange for the performance orpromise to perform the activity. For example, the offer may be toreceive a bonus of five hundred credits in exchange for applying for anew credit card account.

The representative may then approach the player and ask him whether hewould like to accept the offer. For example, the representative may askthe player, “Hello, Mr. Smith. My name is Karen and I work here at theLucky Dice Casino. Based on your slot play over the last couple of days,we've determined that you're eligible to receive a bonus of 500 creditsif you sign up for a new Big Bank credit card. Would you like to acceptthis offer and receive your bonus of 500 credits?”

If the player accepts the offer, then the representative may use the PDAto transmit the acceptance to the casino's central computer. The benefitdesignated in the offer may then be provided to the player (e.g., bycrediting a player account accordingly).

Applicants have recognized that people are generally more likely toaccept offers that are presented to them by other people(representatives) than offers that are presented to them by devices(e.g. slot machines).

Referring now to FIG. 1, an apparatus 100 according to an embodiment ofthe present invention includes a central computer 110 that is incommunication, via a communications network 120, with one or more gamingdevices 130 (e.g., slot machine, video poker machines), with one or morerepresentative devices 140 and/or with one or more subsidizer devices150. The central computer 110 may communicate with the devices 130, 140and 150 directly, via the Internet, via a wireless medium, via a wiredmedium such as Ethernet, LAN or WAN or via any appropriatecommunications means or combination of communications means. Each of thedevices 130, 140 and 150 may comprise computers, such as those based onthe Intel® Pentium® processor, that are adapted to communicate with thecentral computer 110. Any number of devices 130, 140 and 150 may be incommunication with the central computer 110.

Communication between the devices 130, 140 and 150 and the centralcomputer 110 may be direct or indirect, such as over the Internetthrough a Web site maintained by central computer 110 on a remote serveror over an on-line data network including commercial on-line serviceproviders, bulletin board systems and the like. In yet otherembodiments, the devices may communicate with central computer 110 overRF, cable TV, satellite links and the like.

The communication network 120 may permit or facilitate communicationbetween various devices in communication therewith. For example, (i) thecentral computer may transmit information to a gaming device (e.g., tocontrol its operation); (ii) a gaming device may transmit information tothe central computer (e.g., information about a player's gamingactivities); (iii) the central computer may transmit information to arepresentative device (e.g., information about potential offers); (iv) arepresentative device may transmit information to the central computer(e.g., an indication that an offer has been accepted); (v) a gamingdevice may transmit information to a representative device (e.g.,information about a player's gaming activities); (vi) a representativedevice may transmit information to a gaming device (e.g., a request toincrease a player's credit balance at the slot machine); (vii) asubsidizer device may transmit information to the central computer(e.g., information about available subsidies); and (viii) the centralcomputer may transmit information to a subsidizer device (e.g., arequest for payment subsidies in response to activities performed byplayers). Additional forms of communication will be readily apparent tothose of ordinary skill in the art.

Some, but not all, possible communication networks include: a local areanetwork (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), the Internet, a telephoneline, a cable line, a radio channel, an optical communications line, asatellite communications link. Possible communications protocolsinclude: Ethernet, Bluetooth, TCP/IP. Communication may be encrypted toensure privacy and prevent fraud in any of a variety of ways well knownin the art.

Those skilled in the art will understand that devices in communicationwith each other need not be continually transmitting to each other. Onthe contrary, such devices need only transmit to each other asnecessary, and may actually refrain from exchanging data most of thetime. For example, a device in communication with another device via theInternet may not transmit data to the other device for weeks at a time.

The central computer 110 may function as a “Web server” that generatesWeb pages (documents on the Web that typically include an HTML file andassociated graphics and script files) that may be accessed via the Weband allows communication with the central computer 110 in a manner knownin the art.

Any or all of the devices 130, 140 and 150 may comprise, e.g.,conventional personal computers, portable types of computers, such as alaptop computer, a palm-top computer, a hand-held computer, or aPersonal Digital Assistant (PDA). A representative device is typically aPDA in many of the examples presented herein.

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment 200 of a gaming device. The gamingdevice may be implemented as a system controller, a dedicated hardwarecircuit, an appropriately programmed general-purpose computer, or anyother equivalent electronic, mechanical or electromechanical device. Agaming device may comprise, for example, a slot machine, a video pokerterminal, a pachinko machine or a table-top game. In variousembodiments, a gaming device may comprise, e.g., a personal computer, atelephone (e.g., to communicate with an automated sports book thatprovides gaming services), or a portable handheld gaming device (e.g., apersonal digital assistant or Nintendo GameBoy).

In embodiments of the invention addressing table game play such asblackjack, craps, roulette, baccarat, Keno, Bingo, and the like, thegaming device may be hardware located at the game table suitable forentering player identifiers or average bet sizes. A gaming device neednot be located in a casino.

The gaming device comprises a processor 210, such as one or more Intel®Pentium® processors. The processor 210 is in communication with a memory220. The memory 220 may comprise an appropriate combination of magnetic,optical and/or semiconductor memory, and may include, for example,Random Access Memory (RAM), Read-Only Memory (ROM), a compact discand/or a hard disk. The processor 210 and the memory 220 may each be,for example: (i) located entirely within a single computer or otherdevice; or (ii) connected to each other by a remote communicationmedium, such as a serial port cable, telephone line or radio frequencytransceiver. In one embodiment, the gaming device may comprise one ormore devices that are connected to a remote server computer formaintaining databases.

The memory stores a program for controlling the processor 210. Theprocessor 210 performs instructions of the program, and thereby operatesin accordance with the present invention, and particularly in accordancewith the methods described in detail herein. The program may be storedin a compressed, uncompiled and/or encrypted format. The programfurthermore includes program elements that may be necessary, such as anoperating system, a database management system and “device drivers” forallowing the processor 210 to interface with computer peripheraldevices. Appropriate program elements are known to those skilled in theart, and need not be described in detail herein.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the instructions ofthe program may be read into a main memory from anothercomputer-readable medium, such from a ROM to RAM. Execution of sequencesof the instructions in program causes processor 210 to perform theprocess steps described herein. In alternative embodiments, hard-wiredcircuitry may be used in place of, or in combination with, softwareinstructions for implementation of the processes of the presentinvention. Thus, embodiments of the present invention are not limited toany specific combination of hardware and software.

The gaming device also includes an input device 230, which is a devicethat is capable of receiving an input from a player. Examples of inputdevices include, but are not limited to, a computer keyboard, a computermouse, a touch screen, a button, a handle, a microphone, a video camera,a magnetic stripe reader (e.g., to read a player tracking card), abiometric input device (e.g., a fingerprint or retinal scanner), a radioantenna (e.g., for receiving inputs from a second gaming device), avoice recognition module, a coin or bill acceptor. For gaming devices,common input devices include a button or touch screen on a video pokermachine, a lever or handle connected to the gaming device, and amagnetic stripe reader to read a player tracking card inserted into agaming device.

The gaming device includes an output device 240, which is a device thatmay be used to output information from the gaming device to a player.Examples of output devices include, but are not limited to a videomonitor, a light-emitting diode (LED), an audio speaker, an electricmotor, a printer (e.g., such as for printing cashless gaming vouchers),a coupon or product dispenser, an infra-red port (e.g., forcommunicating with a second gaming device), a Braille computer monitor,and a coin or bill dispenser. For gaming devices, common output devicesinclude a cathode ray tube (CRT) monitor on a video poker machine, abell on a gaming device (e.g., rings when a player wins), an LED displayof a player's credit balance on a gaming device, an LCD display of apersonal digital assistant (PDA) for displaying keno numbers.

The gaming device may include a random number generator 250, whichgenerates data representing random or pseudo-random values. The randomnumber generator 250 may be implemented in hardware, software or acombination thereof in a manner known in the art.

The gaming device includes a payment system 260 which is a devicecapable of accepting payment from a player (e.g., a bet or initiation ofa balance) and/or providing payment to a player (e.g., a payout).Payment is not limited to money, but may also include other types ofconsideration, including products, services, and alternate currencies.

Exemplary methods of accepting payment by the payment system include (i)receiving hard currency (i.e., coins or bills), and accordingly thepayment system 260 may comprise a coin or bill acceptor; (ii) receivingan alternate currency (e.g., a paper cashless gaming voucher, a coupon,a non-negotiable token), and accordingly the payment system 260 maycomprise a bar code reader or other sensing means; (iii) receiving apayment identifier (e.g., a credit card number, a debit card number, aplayer tracking card number) and debiting the account identified by thepayment identifier; and (iv) determining that a player has performed avalue-added activity.

Exemplary methods of providing payment to a player include (i)dispensing hard currency (i.e., coins or bills); (ii) dispensing analternate currency, such as a paper cashless gaming voucher, a coupon, anon-negotiable token; (iii) crediting a player account (e.g., a bankaccount or other financial account) which is identified by a paymentidentifier (e.g., a credit card number, a debit card number, a playertracking card number); and (iv) providing a product or service to theplayer (e.g., a jackpot prize may be a new car).

In one embodiment, a player may operate a plurality of gaming devices.For example, a player may simultaneously play two side-by-side gamingdevices, a player may play one gaming device (e.g. a gaming device) andthen continue his gaming session at another gaming device (e.g. a videopoker machine), and a player may remotely operate a gaming device,possibly by using a telephone, PDA or other device (i) to transmitcommands (directly or indirectly) to the gaming device, such as wageramounts and commands to select certain cards; and/or (ii) to receiveoutput (directly or indirectly) from the gaming device.

In one embodiment, a gaming device may allow a player to play a game ofskill rather than a game of chance. Such an embodiment may be moreappealing to certain players or may be permitted in areas where it isillegal to gamble on games of chance.

Referring to FIG. 3, an embodiment 300 of a representative device isshown. The representative device includes a processor 310, memory 320,one or more input devices 330 and one or more output device 340, asdescribed above with respect to the embodiment 200 of the gaming device.According to one embodiment, a representative device may comprise, forexample, a PDA (e.g., made by Palm, Handspring or Blackberry), a tabletcomputer, a notebook computer (e.g., running Microsoft Windows), awearable computer, a cellular telephone (e.g., to allow a representativeto interact with the central computer using an interactive voicerecognition unit (IVRU)), a walkie-talkie, a cash register (e.g.,including a touch screen) or an Internet-enabled kiosk. In severalexamples presented herein, a representative device is implemented as aPDA carried by a representative.

In an embodiment where a representative device is a PDA, common inputdevices include a touch screen, a keypad a microphone and/or a magneticstripe reader (e.g., for scanning player tracking cards). For PDAs,common output devices include a liquid crystal display screen, an audiospeaker, and/or a dot-matrix printer.

The PDA may have Internet access, either directly through a wirelessmodem or through its communication with another device that has Internetaccess.

As described in detail herein, a representative device is operable toassist or permit a representative to perform several functions,including but not limited to viewing information relating to players(e.g., a player's name, session win, hobbies), indicating informationrelating to players (e.g., indicating a player who would like to receivean offer), viewing information relating to offers (e.g., offer details,lists of potential offers), and/or indicating information relating tooffers (e.g., whether an offer was accepted or rejected).

A representative may operate one or more representative devices. Forexample, a representative may use a first PDA to view information aboutpotential offers and a second PDA to view information about a player'sgaming activities.

In one embodiment, a particular representative device may be associatedwith a specific representative. For example, a representative may wearan earphone walkie-talkie, which allows him to receive audio promptsfrom the central computer. In one embodiment, a particular PDA may beassociated with a plurality of representatives. For example, fiverepresentatives may take turns using a cash register at a bar to performfunctions such as viewing potential offers and indicating playerinformation.

Referring to FIG. 4, an embodiment 400 of the central computer includesa processor 410, memory 420, one or more input devices 430 and one ormore output devices 440, as described above with respect to theembodiment 200 of the gaming device. In one embodiment, the centralcomputer comprises one or more computers, such as server computers.

The memory 420 stores a program 450 for controlling the processor 410.The processor 410 performs instructions of the program 450, and therebyoperates in accordance with the present invention, and particularly inaccordance with the methods described in detail herein. The program maybe stored in a compressed, uncompiled and/or encrypted format. Theprogram furthermore includes program elements that may be necessary,such as an operating system, a database management system and “devicedrivers” for allowing the processor 410 to interface with computerperipheral devices. Appropriate program elements are known to thoseskilled in the art, and need not be described in detail herein.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the instructions ofthe program may be read into a main memory from anothercomputer-readable medium, such from a ROM to RAM. Execution of sequencesof the instructions in program causes processor 410 to perform theprocess steps described herein. In alternative embodiments, hard-wiredcircuitry may be used in place of, or in combination with, softwareinstructions for implementation of the processes of the presentinvention. Thus, embodiments of the present invention are not limited toany specific combination of hardware and software.

The memory 420 also stores a player database 455, an offer determinationdatabase 460, and offer database 465, a representative database 470 andan offer tracking database 475, each of which is described in detailherein.

In addition, the central computer may store information aboutsubsidizers in a subsidizer database (not shown). Such a subsidizerdatabase may include, e.g. information identifying the subsidizer,information about offers made on the subsidizers behalf, informationabout what may be due the subsidizer, and information about what may beowed by the subsidizer.

Referring to FIG. 5, a tabular representation 500 of the player databaseincludes a number of example records or entries 510, 520 and 530, eachdefining a player. Those skilled in the art will understand that theplayer database may include any number of entries. The tabularrepresentation 500 also defines fields for each of the entries orrecords. The fields specify: (i) a player identifier 540 that uniquelyidentifies the player; (ii) a player name 550; (iii) a sessiontheoretical win 560; (iv) a current location of the player; and (v)notes regarding the player, such as interests, hobbies, and informationuseful in determining offers the player may be more likely to accept.Characteristics of a player may be particularly useful in determining anoffer to present to the player, as is described in detail herein.

Notes may be (i) entered by the representative; (ii) entered by a casinoemployee; (iii) automatically determined or calculated by the gamingdevice and/or the central computer; (iv) entered by the player; or (v)any combination thereof.

Player database may further include any other data related to a player,including but not limited to (i) amount lost or won in the currentgaming session; (ii) amount won or lost during this stay at the casino,during this vacation or during any other desired time period; and (iii)activities performed during his stay at a casino.

Referring to FIG. 6, a tabular representation 600 of the offerdetermination database includes a number of example records or entries610, 615, 620, 625 and 630, each defining a condition and correspondingoffer. Those skilled in the art will understand that the offer conditiondatabase may include any number of entries. The tabular representation600 also defines fields for each of the entries or records. The fieldsspecify: (i) an offer condition 640 which, when true, specifies that thecorresponding offer should be made, or is allowed to be made; and (ii)an offer identifier 650 which uniquely identifies the offer. In thedepicted embodiment, the offer to be made is represented by an offeridentifier, which in turn is used to specify information about an offerstored in the offer database, described in more detail below.

The data stored in the offer determination database may be used tospecify conditions under which certain offers should be made, orconditions under which certain offers are allowed to be made.

Referring to FIG. 7, a tabular representation 700 of the offer databaseincludes a number of example records or entries 710, 720, 730, 740 and750, each defining an offer. Those skilled in the art will understandthat the offer database may include any number of entries. The tabularrepresentation 700 also defines fields for each of the entries orrecords. The fields specify: (i) an offer identifier 760 which uniquelyidentifies the offer; (ii) an activity 770; and (iii) a benefit 780.According to one embodiment, the activity must be performed by the offerrecipient (e.g., a player) in order to receive the benefit.

According to one embodiment, the offer database may also storeinformation about subsidies associated with offers.

Referring to FIG. 8, a tabular representation 800 of the representativedatabase includes a number of example records or entries 810, 820, 830and 840, each defining a representative. Those skilled in the art willunderstand that the representative database may include any number ofentries. The tabular representation 800 also defines fields for each ofthe entries or records. The fields specify: (i) a representativeidentifier 850 which uniquely identifies the representative; (ii) acurrent location 860 of the representative, which may indicate a generalgeographic location and/or a specific gaming device engaged by therepresentative; (iii) a current activity 870 of the representative whichmay be utilized, e.g., in embodiments where the down time of therepresentative is determined; and (iv) a commission earned 880 by therepresentative during the shift or other time period, which commissionmay be expressed in various manners, such as a commission earned in thecurrent shift.

Referring to FIG. 9, a tabular representation 900 of the offer trackingdatabase includes a number of example records or entries 910, 915, 920and 925, each defining an offer that has been made. Those skilled in theart will understand that the offer tracking database may include anynumber of entries. The tabular representation 900 also defines fieldsfor each of the entries or records. The fields specify: (i) a made offeridentifier 930 which uniquely identifies an offer that has been made orprovided to a recipient; (ii) an offer identifier 935 (corresponding toan offer identifier of the offer database of FIG. 7) which describes theoffer that has been made, and thus the corresponding activity andbenefit; (iii) a player identifier 940 (corresponding to playeridentifiers of the player database of FIG. 5) which uniquely identifiesthe player who received the offer made; (iv) a representative identifier945 (corresponding to representative identifiers listed inrepresentative database of FIG. 8) which uniquely identifies therepresentative who made the offer; (v) an indication 950 of whether theoffer was accepted; (vi) an indication 955 of whether the activitycorresponding to the offer has been completed; and (vii) an indication960 of whether the benefit has been provided.

Referring to FIG. 10, an embodiment 1000 of a subsidizer device isshown. The subsidizer device includes a processor 1010, memory 1020, oneor more input devices 1030 and one or more output devices 1040, asdescribed above with respect to the embodiment 200 of the gaming device.According to one embodiment, a subsidizer device may comprise, forexample, a personal computer, a mainframe computer, or any othercomputer or computer-based device that allows a subsidizer tocommunicate appropriately with the central computer. Such devices areknown to those skilled in the art and need not be discussed in detailherein. Communications between a subsidizer and the central computer mayinclude, but are not limited to transmitting and receiving informationrelating to activities by players; transmitting and receivinginformation relating to benefits for players; and transmitting andreceiving information relating to subsidies provided by the subsidizer.

According to one embodiment, a subsidizer may provide a subsidy to anoffer recipient (e.g., a player) or to the casino or other offeringparty. Such a subsidy may be provided in exchange for the playerperforming an activity. For example, a subsidizer that is a bank mayfind it advantageous to require the customer to perform a pricingactivity, such as signing up for a credit card issued by that bank.

Referring to FIG. 11, a flow chart 1100 represents an embodiment of thepresent invention that may be performed by the central computer 110(FIG. 1). The particular arrangement of elements in the flow chart ofFIG. 11, as well as the other flow charts discussed herein, is not meantto imply a fixed order to the steps; embodiments of the presentinvention can be practiced in any order that is practicable.

The steps of the flow chart 1100 are presented, followed by a moredetailed description of each step and alternatives thereto in variousembodiments of the invention.

The central computer determines a recipient of an offer (step 1110) andalso determines an offer which includes an activity and a benefit (step1120). The central computer also determines a representative to providethe offer to the recipient (step 1130), and provides to therepresentative information relating to the offer and the recipient (step1140). Subsequently, the central computer determines whether therecipient has performed the activity (step 1150); and if so provides thebenefit to the recipient (step 1160).

In the step 1100 of determining a recipient of an offer, the recipient(e.g., a player in a casino) may be identified by a representative, bythe central computer, by the recipient himself, or by a friend orassociate of the recipient.

According to one embodiment, a player may be identified by arepresentative. For example, a representative may use a PDA to identifya player to the central computer. In various embodiments,representatives include, but are not limited to casino hosts, pitbosses, cocktail waitresses, coin changers, card dealers, cashiers,other casino employees, bus drivers and flight attendants.

Methods of identifying a player include indicating (i) the player'sname, (ii) the player's identification number (e.g., from a trackingcard); (iii) a contact identifier for the player (e.g., the player'scell phone number, email address, credit card number, hotel room, orpostal address); (iv) indicating a gaming device that is being operatedby the player (e.g., the player at slot machine #25); (v) the player'slocation—for example, a representative's PDA may have a built-in globalposition system (GPS) where the location of a player may be determinedbased on an indication of the player's location relative to therepresentative's PDA (e.g., “Twenty feet in front of me”); (vi) asufficient number of characteristics of the player to identify himrelative to other players in the area (e.g., male, gray hair, slightlybalding, mustache, wearing a red and white Hawaiian-print shirt, smokingcigar, drinking margarita); (vii) an activity being performed by theplayer (e.g., the player operating the ATM machine); and/or (viii) abiometric of the player (e.g., a scan of the player's fingerprint, aphotograph of the player). A player may be identified using acombination of the above or other methods. For example, a representativemay identify, “the red-haired player sitting at the bank of slotmachines thirty meters in front of me.”

In one embodiment, a representative may identify multiple playerssimultaneously. For example, a representative may indicate that all theplayers at blackjack table #4 should receive offers.

A representative will typically use a representative device such as aPDA to identify a player, for example, by (i) typing a player's nameinto a numeric keypad on the PDA; (ii) using a magnetic stripe reader onthe PDA to read a player's tracking card number; (iii) using afingerprint scanner on the PDA to read a player's fingerprint; (iv)using a camera on the PDA to take a picture of the player; and/or (v)using direct indication (e.g., a PDA may have a GPS, an electroniccompass, and a laser range finder, and the representative may determinethe exact location of the player by pointing the PDA at a player).

Representatives may be very perceptive and highly skilled in determiningplayer's moods and feelings. Such skills would permit a representativeto more readily identify players who should receive offers, but who maynot have been identified by the central computer. In some embodiments,relative strengths of the representatives and the central computer willcomplement each other in determining which players should receiveoffers.

According to one embodiment, the central computer may select a list ofone or more players and indicate these players to a representative. Therepresentative may then be prompted to identify at least one player fromthe list to receive an offer. This prompt may be displayed through a PDAcarried by the representative. For example, the representative may beprompted to identify (i) which player appears to be in the best mood(and therefore would be most receptive to an offer); (ii) a player whoappears to be with a group (e.g., for an offer that benefits multiplepeople); (iii) which player would be most receptive to a particular typeof offer (e.g., who looks like they are hungry and would want a freemeal comp?); (iv) a player who appears to be frustrated by a long waitfor a mechanic to fix a machine malfunction or a long wait for a hopperfill; and/or (v) a player who appears to be frustrated by a winningstreak by a casino dealer (such as a blackjack dealer who has not bustedfor a very long time or has been achieving a total of twenty one).

According to one embodiment, a player identified by a representative maybe verified by the central computer. For example, a representative mayidentify a player to receive a new credit card and the central computermay check its records to make sure that the player is a good creditrisk.

While a player is at a casino or otherwise engaged in gambling-relatedactivities, various events may occur. For example, a player may arriveat a casino, check into his hotel room, register for a player trackingcard, start gambling at a gaming device, win a $100 jackpot, place akeno bet, etc. According to one embodiment of the invention, a playermay be identified by the central computer in response to any one or moreof these gaming-related activities.

The central computer may identify a player to receive an offer inresponse to a trigger (also referred to herein as a “trigger event”). Atrigger may be any event, circumstance, or condition that results from aplayer's activities, e.g. at a casino.

Examples of triggers relating to gaming activities performed by theplayer include, but are not limited to, whether the player registers fora player tracking card; initiates a gaming session; inserts his playertracking card into a gaming device; inserts a coin or bill into a gamingdevice; makes a bet at a gaming device or table game; makes a maximumbet at a gaming device; wins a jackpot at a gaming device; obtains awinning outcome at a gaming device; obtains a losing outcome at a gamingdevice (or a losing series of outcomes); finishes a gaming session;presses the “cash out” button on a gaming device or picks up his chipsfrom a blackjack table; presses the “change request” button on a gamingdevice; obtains an intermediate outcome at a gaming device (e.g., asingle card is dealt at video blackjack); is waiting for a fill so thathe can be paid coins due; and/or doubles down on a blackjack bet.

Triggers may also comprise other activities performed by the player.Examples of such activities include, but are not limited to, whether theplayer reserves a hotel room at the casino; checks into or out of ahotel room at the casino; purchases a meal at a restaurant associatedwith the casino; receives a complimentary beverage; requests acomplimentary product or service; receives a complimentary product orservice; attends a show or sporting event; usually eats dinner now;and/or must check out of the hotel.

Triggers may also comprise the status of a player's gaming sessions,including but not limited to, whether the player's credit balance at agaming device is greater or less than a certain value; session win isgreater or less than a certain value; session theoretical win is greateror less than a certain value; session coin-in is greater or less than acertain value; year-to-date win is greater or less than a certain value;year-to-date theoretical win is greater or less than a certain value;year-to-date coin-in is greater or less than a certain value; and/orcurrent gaming session is considered on a winning streak or a losingstreak.

Triggers may also comprise activities performed by, or the status of agaming session of, another player who is in some way associated with theplayer. Conditions relating to other players are similar to the triggerevents described herein. Examples of other players associated with theplayer include, but are not limited to a player who is operating anearby gaming device; a player who is sharing a room with the player; aplayer who arrived on the same bus as the player; and family members,friends, and other associates of the player.

Triggers may also comprise conditions or events relating to revenuemanagement considerations of a casino or other entity. Examples includebut are not limited to less than a desired number of rooms in a hotelare rented at a certain time (which may result in, e.g., an offer for adiscount on a room); less than a desired number of gaming devices arebeing played at a certain time (which may result in, e.g., an offerwhich requires an activity of playing a gaming device); and/or otheractivities of a player are desired in order to derive revenue from theplayer.

Triggers may also comprise conditions or events relating to offers thathave been provided previously, including but not limited to the playercompletes an activity specified by a previous offer; the player has notperformed an activity specified by a previous offer; the number ofoffers provided exceeds a predetermined quantity (e.g., in an embodimentwhere only a limited number of offers may be provided or accepted); anew offer, activity or benefit is added to the offer database; and/orthe player accepts or rejects an offer.

The central computer may receive information about triggers from avariety of sources, including but not limited to gaming devices (e.g., aslot machine may transmit a message to the central computer when aplayer inserts his tracking card); input devices (e.g., a check-interminal in the hotel lobby); casino employees (e.g., a cocktailwaitress may use a computer keyboard to indicate that a player receiveda complimentary beverage); and/or databases accessible by the centralcomputer (e.g., the information about a player's gaming history may bestored in the player database, such as the player database shown in FIG.5 which may store a player's session coin-in).

In one embodiment, a player may identify himself, such as by pressing abutton on a gaming device marked “Give me an offer”; pressing a buttonon a gaming device marked “Please summon a casino representative”;registering at the casino front desk to receive offers; operating a PDAor other device to identify himself; and/or wearing an identificationbadge (e.g., a radio frequency identification token, Vividot system byImageID). Other methods that a player may use to identify himself areanalogous to those described for representatives herein. In oneembodiment, a player may receive a benefit merely for identifyinghimself.

In one embodiment, a player may be identified by one of his friends orassociates. For example, a friend of a player may talk with arepresentative and provide information about the player to identify him(e.g., by indicating the player's name, location, cell phone number,etc.). A friend of a player may also use a kiosk, PDA, gaming device, orother device to identify the player (e.g., by indicating the player'scurrent location). Other methods that a friend may use to identify aplayer are analogous to those described for representatives herein.

In one embodiment, a friend of a player may receive a benefit foridentifying the player.

The central computer may determine an offer to present to the identifiedplayer. This offer generally includes an activity that should beperformed by the player (or obligation to be completed), as well as abenefit to be provided to the player.

According to one embodiment, the central computer determines an activityand a benefit using conditions and corresponding offers. For example,the central computer may store an offer determination database, such asthe database depicted in FIG. 6. As described herein, an offer may beprovided when the corresponding condition is true. This offer may beidentified by an offer identifier. The central computer may then use anoffer database (e.g., as depicted in FIG. 7) to determine an activitythat should be performed by the player and a benefit that may beprovided to the player. For example, a rule might specify a conditionsuch that all dollar slot customers currently playing are offered: abenefit of a free buffet comp if they agree to an activity of a testdriving a Ford truck sometime in the next month.

There are many other ways of determining an activity to be performed anda benefit to be provided. Examples include (i) a pseudo-random system.For example, the central computer may randomly select an activity forthe player to perform from a list of potential activities (e.g. in adatabase) and also select a benefit from a list of potential benefits(e.g. in a database); (ii) allowing the player to choose his own offer.For example a player may be allowed to choose an activity to performfrom a list of potential activities. The list of potential activitiesmay be determined by the central computer and displayed to therepresentative. The representative may then present the list ofpotential activities to the player; (iii) allowing a representative tochoose an offer for the player; and/or (iv) determining an activityusing a first method and determining a benefit using a second method.For example, an activity may be determined based on which trigger eventoccurred, whereas a benefit may be determined using a pseudo-randomprocess.

If the central computer uses conditions and corresponding offers todetermine an activity and a benefit to present to a player, then thecentral computer may evaluate one or more types of data in determiningwhether the condition is true. Some general types of data include, butare not limited to data relating to the trigger, as described herein;characteristics of the player; characteristics of the representative whowill present the offer; the player's gaming activities; data relating tothe player's visit to the casino (e.g., arrival, hotel stay, meals,entertainment); data relating to other players; the casino's revenues;data relating to subsidies; and/or data relating to offers. Any or allof this information may be made available to the representative, whichmay assist the representative in providing offers or providing offersmore effectively.

Some examples of player characteristics include, but are not limited toinformation stored in the player database; information determined by arepresentative (e.g., by talking to the player); the player's hobbiesand interests (e.g., sailing, golf); physical characteristics of theplayer (e.g., age, height, weight, gender, dress and appearance);psychological characteristics of the player (e.g., creativity,risk-aversion, IQ); the player's marital status; the player'soccupation, income, work hours, credit report; and/or the player'smedical history.

Data representing player characteristics may be, e.g., stored in theplayer database, entered by the representative, entered by the player,calculated by the central computer or determinable from external datasources.

In various embodiments, a representative (prior to presenting an offer)may be identified before (or simultaneously with) the determination ofthe offer. In such an embodiment, various characteristics of therepresentative may be considered in determining the offer. Examples ofcharacteristics of representatives include, but are not limited to theidentity of the representative; the acceptance rate of offers made bythe representative; the representative's relative ability in providingcertain offers or acceptance rate with providing certain offers; therepresentative's history of making offers (e.g., speed, clarity,acceptance rate with this type of player), which may be determined byaccessing the offer tracking database depicted in FIG. 9; physicalcharacteristics of the representative (e.g., age, height, weight,gender, dress, appearance); what type of PDA the representative has(such information is particularly advantageous in an embodiment wherecertain offers require PDAs to have certain components or capabilitiesfor proper or optimal presentation of the offer. For example, for fulleffect a particular offer may need to be presented to a player in audioform, such as a jingle or a song. If a representative's PDA does nothave a speaker or other audio output device, then it may be difficultfor the representative to understand the tune of the jingle. Therefore,it might be better to select a different offer using that particularPDA.); a commission rate, or total commissions paid to therepresentative (e.g., the offer selected may be an offer which providesthe representative with sufficient points to meet his goal for theweek); time constraints for the representative (e.g., is therepresentative's shift going to end soon? Then a short offer should beselected.); and/or the representative's preferences (e.g., does heprefer to make a particular type of offer?).

Data representing characteristics of representatives may be, e.g.,stored in the representative database, entered by the representative,calculated by the central computer or determinable from external datasources.

Examples of a player's gaming activities include, but are not limited tothe player's past gaming activities (e.g., year-to-date coin-in, coin-induring any appropriate period); the player's present gaming activities(e.g., current credit balance); the player's anticipated future gamingactivities (e.g., the player will likely stop gambling in 10 minutes toattend a show at the casino, based on information about the player);metrics of the player's gaming activities (e.g., session theoretical wincalculated in a manner known in the art); and/or the player'spreferences (e.g., video poker instead of blackjack, based on pastgaming sessions of the player).

Data representing gaming activities of players may be, e.g., stored inthe player database, entered by the representative, calculated by thecentral computer or determinable from external data sources.

Examples of the player's visit to the casino include, but are notlimited to people who accompanied the player to the casino (e.g.,friends, family members); whether the player has reserved a hotel roomat the casino; purchases made by the player at the casino (e.g.,clothes, souvenirs, food); and/or the duration of the player's visit tothe casino.

Data representing a player's visit to the casino may be, e.g., stored inthe player database, entered by the representative, calculated by thecentral computer or determinable from external data sources (e.g. ahotel reservation system, computers of stores or restaurants, creditcard network computers).

Examples of the casino's revenue include, but are not limited to lessthan a desired number of rooms in a hotel are rented at a certain time;less than a desired number of gaming devices are being played at acertain time; and/or activities of players which are desired in order toderive revenue from players.

Data representing a casino's revenue may be, e.g., entered by therepresentative, calculated by the central computer or determinable fromexternal data sources (e.g. a hotel reservation system, computers ofstores or restaurants, credit card network computers).

Data relating to subsidies include, but are not limited to indicationsby a subsidizer (e.g., a subsidizer may request that a player perform aparticular activity); and/or subsidies provided by a subsidizer. Forexample, a credit card company may pay a casino $50 if a player performsan activity of signing up for a new credit card. In another example, amagazine publisher may give a casino an 80% discount on magazines thatare provided as benefits to players.

Data representing subsidies may be, e.g., stored in the offer databaseand/or offer tracking database, entered by the representative,calculated by the central computer or determinable from external datasources (e.g. a hotel reservation system, computers of subsidizers).

Data relating to offers include, but are not limited to whether theplayer has completed an activity required by an offer that waspreviously made; the inventory of offers (e.g., in an embodiment whereonly a limited number of offers may be provided or accepted); offersthat have already been made to the player (e.g., as stored in the offertracking database shown in FIG. 9); offers that the player has acceptedor rejected; offers that have been made to other players (e.g., asstored in the offer tracking database shown in FIG. 9); the activity tobe performed by the player (e.g., the benefit may not be determineduntil after the player completes the activity. According to thisembodiment, the benefit may be based on how well the player performs theactivity); the benefit to be provided in an offer (e.g., the player maybe allowed to select what benefit he would like to earn—based on thisbenefit, the central computer may determine what activity the playershould perform to earn this benefit); and/or whether the player issuitable for a particular type of offer (e.g., if the offer is for a newcredit card, what is the player's credit limit? If the offer is for amagazine subscription, does the player already receive the magazine?).

Data representing offers may be, e.g., stored in the player database,offer database and/or offer tracking database, entered by therepresentative, calculated by the central computer or determinable fromexternal data sources (e.g. a hotel reservation system, computers ofsubsidizers).

According to one embodiment, an offer need not specify a benefit. Insuch an embodiment, a benefit may be determined based on the activityperformed, or how the activity was performed.

According to one embodiment, a representative may interact with thecentral computer to assist in determining an offer. For example, arepresentative may use his PDA to communicate with the central computerand provide information useful in determining an offer. As anotherexample, the central computer may provide the hotel bill of a player toa representative, allowing the representative to more effectively forman offer for that player.

There may be advantages to having a representative assist in selectingan offer to present to a player. Even exceptionally designed computersystems are generally not as adept at interpreting player preferences,feelings, and moods as are people, especially certain types of people.In general, a representative would be capable of more readilydetermining player preferences, feelings, and moods. Therefore, arepresentative, especially a well-trained representative, may be able toascertain or interpret information that an unaided central computercould not. Further, over time a representative who interacts with aplayer is capable of more thoroughly understanding the preferences ofthat player. Thus, in one embodiment representatives and the centralcomputer can advantageously cooperate to determine which offers toprovide to players.

According to one embodiment, the central computer may generate a list ofpotential offers and display these to the representative (e.g., on thePDA of the representative). In one embodiment, the central computer maygenerate a list of potential offers and transmit the list to the PDA ofa representative. The representative may then select one (or more) ofthese potential offers and indicate the selected offer(s) with his PDAthrough any known manner. The selected offer(s) is communicated to thecentral computer. The representative may make the selected offer(s) tothe player.

In one embodiment, the central computer may generate a first list ofpotential offers. Using the PDA, the representative may then form asecond list of potential offers by (i) proposing changes to the firstlist of potential offers, or (ii) selecting a new set of potentialoffers through any known manner. Information input by the representativeinto his PDA may then be transmitted back to the central computer andused to determine an offer or subsequent list of potential offers forfurther review by the representative. Accordingly, the representativemay be considered to command the central computer to present one or moreadditional lists of potential offers.

In one embodiment there may be a limited number of offers. For example,there may be offers for hotel rooms at a casino over the weekend, andonly a limited number of rooms are available in this time period.Further, a plurality of offers may be made by different representativessimultaneously. For example, each of a plurality of representatives maymake an offer to a different respective player. The central computer maydisplay the same list of offers to all the representatives. Eachrepresentative in turn may select which offer(s) he would like to maketo a player. If a first representative selects an offer that has alreadybeen made by a second representative, the central computer may promptthe first representative to select a different offer. The centralcomputer may, at certain times, optionally provide updated listsrepresenting the currently available offers. For example, the centralcomputer may provide representatives with an updated list every tenminutes, or after each offer that is provided.

In one embodiment, the central computer may provide a representativewith a list of potential offers and a list of players who may beselected to receive offers. The representative in turn determine whichof these offers to make to which of these players. For example, therepresentative may match an offer with a respective player. In oneembodiment, the central computer provides default suggestions of whichoffers should be made to which players, and the representative canaccept the suggestions or selectively override any or all suggestions,e.g., by matching offers and players.

The central computer may provide at least one potential offer to arepresentative. Certain offers benefit from additional information. Forexample, the offer may include a benefit or activity which is alreadyenjoyed by the player, and a duplicate of such a benefit or activitywould not be desirable to the player (e.g., an activity for the playerto switch his long distance service to MCI, but the player may alreadyuse MCI). With such offers, it is advantageous to acquire furtherinformation (e.g., determine the long distance service of the player).The representative may be charged with determining such information,e.g., by speaking with the player prior to making the offer. Ifadditional information reveals that the offer would not be appealing tothe player (e.g., the player already uses MCI) then the representativemay indicate to the central computer that a new offer should be selectedfor the player. The representative may farther indicate the additionalinformation (e.g., that the player uses MCI) using his PDA. The centralcomputer may store this information in the player database to be used informulating future offers to the player.

According to one embodiment, a representative may suggest offers orcreate new offers. For example, based on a conversation between arepresentative and a player, the representative may understand that theplayer enjoys roller coasters. The representative may use thisinformation to provide an offer to the player that includes a benefit oftickets to an amusement park. If there are no offers of the type desiredby the representative (e.g., there are no amusement park offers stored)then the representative may use his PDA to command or request that thecentral computer create such an offer.

The central computer may also request that a representative provide oneor more suggestions of offers that may be appropriate for a particularplayer. The representative may respond by indicating, e.g., “offers thathave activities that take less than five minutes” for a player that hasdemonstrated impatience, or “offers to earn benefits for charities” fora player that has demonstrated altruism.

According to one embodiment, a representative may be prompted to obtaininformation from a player. This information may then be used by thecentral computer to determine an appropriate offer for the player. Forexample, the central computer may store a list of questions (e.g., inthe offer database) that, when answered, provide information useful inselecting or forming an offer that is more likely to be accepted. (e.g.,“Are you staying at the casino tonight?” “Have you had lunch yet?” “Doyou like boxing matches?”) One or more of such questions may betransmitted to a representative's PDA, which displays the questions andinstructs the representative to ask the player the questions. Therepresentative may input the player's answers into the PDA, whichtransmits the answers to the central computer. These answers may then beused by the central computer to determine an appropriate offer for theplayer.

In one embodiment, a representative may inform a player that the playerwill receive an offer, but that the casino first requires moreinformation to determine which offer. Such a dialog may be, for example,“We'd like to provide a benefit to one of your friends. Are any of themhere at the casino today?”

In one embodiment, the PDA is in communication with a device (e.g., barcode reader, magnetic strip reader) capable of reading player trackingcards. A representative may use the PDA to scan a player's trackingcard, thereby determining the identity of the player. The identify maybe communicated to the central computer for use in determining an offer.Similarly, other forms of identifying information, such as a driver'slicense and credit card, may be read.

In one embodiment, a bar code reader of the representative device may beused to receive visual machine-readable information from the display ofa gaming device. For example, a gaming device may display aone-dimensional bar code, two-dimensional bar code or graphical glyph,which can be read and interpreted by the bar code reader andrepresentative device. Such information encoded in visualmachine-readable form may comprise, e.g., information about the gamingsession on the gaming device, information identifying the player on thegaming device, information useful in determining offers, player decisioninformation, or any other information the gaming device may be capableof receiving or transmitting.

In one embodiment, the PDA is in communication with a recording device(e.g., a microphone and an appropriate storage medium) capable ofrecording audio, graphical or video input. For example, a representativemay be instructed to start a conversation with a player, and record theconversation using the PDA and/or the recording device. Datarepresenting the audio (or other form of recorded data) would betransmitted to the central computer, which in turn employs voiceanalysis or other known image or signal processing techniques to, e.g.,estimate or determine the player's current mood. Such recordedinformation may also be used for purposes of verifying actions orstatements of representatives and offer recipients. For example, arecording may be used to demonstrate the precise offer that a player hadpreviously accepted.

According to one embodiment, a player may use a PDA to interact with thecentral computer. For example, a representative may provide his PDA to aplayer, who in turn uses the PDA to enter the names and address of fiveof his friends. In another embodiment, a representative provides his PDAto a player. The PDA runs a video game program. If the player wins thevideo game, attains a desired score in the game or otherwise attains adesired performance level in the game, then the player may qualify toreceive an offer. In another embodiment, a representative provides hisPDA to a player, who in turn uses the PDA to browse a list of potentialoffers displayed by the PDA. The player may then select which of thedisplayed offers he would like to receive. In one embodiment, some orall of the data from a PDA, or data not shown on the PDA, may be shownon the display of a gaming device, allowing a player to browse on thedisplay of the gaming device or use what he sees on the display torender a decision.

As described above, in exchange for a benefit, a player may be requiredto perform or promise to perform an activity. Examples of activitiesinclude, but are not limited to applying for a new credit card account;answering survey questions about a product or service; purchasing aproduct or service; using a product or service; testing a product (e.g.,the representative brings a product to the player and has the playertry, sample, or preview it. For example, the player might be required totry a cup of coffee, take a sample issue of a magazine, or wear a newwatch for an hour); selling a product or service; providing a product orservice; providing information; viewing information; performing anaction; telling a friend about a product or service; signing up for amagazine subscription; buying $20 worth of books from Amazon.com;signing up for a warranty; receiving a new credit card; using a new longdistance telephone provider; printing at least 100 pages per week froman HP laser printer; receiving three free issues of a magazine;providing legal advice, medical advice; donating an old television set;selling a used product on eBay; providing tax advice at a rate of $10per hour; answering survey questions; providing product ratings andreviews; indicating demographic information, purchasing information;watching a television commercial or other advertisement; listening to anaudio tape about the health dangers of smoking cigarettes; reading apamphlet that explains how to use a product; playing a game of chance ora game of skill; applying for a credit card; performing a repeatedaction (e.g. purchasing a product from a retailer at least once a monthfor the duration of an insurance policy, maintaining a balance on acredit card); performing a customer-segmenting activity (i.e. anactivity that allows a seller to segment its customer base)—for example,a casino may segment its player base by asking a player to perform anactivity over an extended period of time (since some players will nothave the time to perform such activities). Note that if acustomer-segmenting activity has no value to a subsidizer, then theremay not be a subsidizer; convincing another party (e.g., another player)to perform one or more activities. For example, a first player mayperform an activity of convincing three of his friends to sign up formagazine subscriptions; playing a game for a designated period of time;playing a designated number of games (e.g., two hundred handle pulls ata slot machine); placing a designated number (or dollar value) of bets;winning a designated number of games; winning a designated jackpot;winning a designated amount of money; playing a designated game; playinga game at a designated gaming device; playing a game in a designatedfashion (e.g., always make the maximum bet, always hit with a hand of‘sixteen’ in blackjack); signing up for a player tracking card; and/orproviding gaming-related information (e.g., inserting a player trackingcard, answering survey questions).

In many cases, performance of an activity by a player (or of course anyrecipient of the offer) provides value to a subsidizer. For example, acredit card issuer may be willing to pay up to $50 in exchange for acustomer applying for a new credit card account, since acquiring a newcustomer on average results in greater than $50 profit for the creditcard issuer.

Further, an activity may include an expiration condition. Examplesinclude, but are not limited to an activity must be finished by adesignated time (e.g., before 6 PM today); an activity must be startedbefore a designated event (e.g., before the end of a baseball game); anactivity must be performed before a designated occurrence (e.g., beforeanother player wins a jackpot of $100 or more); and/or an activity mustbe performed before a designated condition is true (e.g., while thereare at least four players playing particular gaming devices).

An activity may include a time-based requirement. Examples include, butare not limited to an activity must be finished by a designated time(e.g., before 6 PM tonight); an activity must be started after adesignated event (e.g., after eating dinner); and/or an activity musttake place during a designated time period (e.g., between 4 AM and 8AM).

In addition, there may be restrictions as to how and where an activityis performed. For example, an activity must be performed while a playeris at the casino.

A player may have to perform multiple activities in order to receive abenefit. For example, a player may have to play one hundred hands ofvideo blackjack today, and then eat lunch at the casino buffet tomorrow.As another example, a player may have to perform a repeated activity(e.g., purchasing a product from a retailer at least once a month forthe duration of an insurance policy, maintaining a predetermined balanceon a credit card).

According to one embodiment, a player's completion of an activity may bebased on activities of other players. For example, a player may performa competitive activity (i.e., an activity where success is determinedrelative to at least one other player), such as a player may have to wina hand of poker or win a slot machine tournament. As another example, aplayer may perform a team activity (i.e., an activity where players worktogether to accomplish a common goal). For example, all the players at abank of slot machines may have to work together to increase aprogressive jackpot to be greater than $10,000.

According to one embodiment, the player may have to perform one of aplurality of activities. The player may select which activity toperform. For example, a player may be required to, at his discretion,elect to either (i) gamble continuously for the next hour or (ii) buy aticket to a boxing match. If the player performs either activity, thenhe will receive a benefit.

According to one embodiment, a player may receive help in performing anactivity. In this case, one or more other parties may perform anactivity in the place of the player. For example, a player may berequired to perform an activity of playing a slot machine continuouslyfor four hours. The player may have three friends help him perform thisactivity—each person plays the slot machine for one hour, and then givesup his seat to the next person at the end of the hour so the next personcan maintain the continuous play of the slot machine.

As another example, a player may be required to perform an activity ofsigning up for three magazine subscriptions. If the player wishes toonly receive two particular magazines but the player's friend also wantsa subscription, then together they meet the requirement by collectivelysigning up for three magazine subscriptions. Accordingly the playerwould receive the benefit.

As another example, a player may be required to perform an activity ofcompleting a Tac-Bo workout. This player doesn't enjoy Tac-Bo, but hiswife does. So the player's wife performs the activity of completing theTae-Bo workout. Accordingly the player would receive the benefit.

Alternatively, with some offers it may not be permissible for a playerto receive help in performing an activity.

According to one embodiment, it may be deemed acceptable for a requiredactivity to have been performed in the past. For example, a player maybe required to perform an activity of placing at least $100 worth ofbets at video poker. If the player has already placed $150 worth of betsat video poker, then this may constitute performance of the activity. Itmay be desirable to require the player to provide evidence of theprevious performance (e.g., by providing a receipt, by inserting hisplayer tracking card allowing his play history to be accessed).

According to one embodiment, it may be permissible for a player to makea forward commitment to perform an activity. According to oneembodiment, a forward commitment is an agreement to perform an activityin the future. For example, a player may be required to perform anactivity of test driving a Ford Escort in the future. The player mayagree to perform this activity in the future (e.g., once he returns homefrom visiting the casino). A benefit may be provided to the player uponthe player making a forward commitment to perform the activity in thefuture. In some embodiments, forward commitments may include time-basedrequirements and/or expiration conditions.

In one embodiment, a player may agree to accept a benefit contingent onaccepting a corresponding activity in the future. For example, arepresentative may offer a player $20 immediately if the player agreesto accept an offer for a magazine subscription in the future.Accordingly, the activity corresponding to the $20 benefit is notspecified or not completely specified to the player at the time theplayer accepts the benefit.

In one embodiment, a benefit may comprise funds which may not be cashedout from a gaming device (or may not be cashed out before a certain timeor event), but which must be used in wagers at a gaming device.

According to one embodiment, a forward commitment may be penalty-securedsuch that a player will be penalized for not completing the activityspecified in the forward commitment. Such an embodiment can reduce thedetrimental effects of cheating by the player. For example, if a forwardcommitment was not penalty secured, then a player may promise to performan activity, receive a corresponding benefit, but then never perform theactivity as promised. A player may be penalized if the player does notperform a required activity by a specified date, or if it is determinedthat the player cannot perform the activity by the specified date. Forexample, monetary penalties may be charged to a player's credit card,debit card, player account or other financial account. According to oneembodiment, a player may be required to provide an account identifier(e.g., a credit card account number) when signing up for apenalty-secured forward commitment. Further, the account may beinitially and/or periodically verified to assure that the account may becharged, and/or may be charged a predetermined amount.

As another example, products or services may be denied (e.g., the playermay be barred from gambling at the casino). Penalties that involvedenial of products or services may be of a limited duration orpermanent.

As another example, the player may be required to perform one or moreadditional activities, or provide other forms of consideration.

In exchange for performing an activity a player may receive a benefit. Avariety of different benefits are possible, including, but not limitedto funds (e.g., money, credits redeemable at a gaming device); products(e.g., a souvenir watch, a sweatshirt, a magazine subscription);services (e.g., a free meal, a haircut); discounts on products orservices to be purchased or already purchased but to be paid for (e.g.,50% off the list price of a hotel room); alternate currencies (e.g.,comp points); an entry into a game of chance (e.g., a lottery ticket, afree spin on a slot machine); and/or other consideration.

Note that determining a benefit may, but need not, also includedetermining the value of the benefit.

Money may be provided to a player in a variety of different ways,including but not limited to as a single payment; as a set of payments(e.g., $100 a month for the next three months); in the form of a checkor cash; and/or by crediting a player's financial account (e.g., bankaccount, credit card account, casino player account).

According to one embodiment, a benefit may be provided to a partyassociated with the player (e.g., a friend of the player, a familymember, a charity). Although providing a benefit to, e.g., a player'sfavorite charity may not provide a tangible benefit to the player, theplayer might receive an intangible benefit (e.g., he may feel altruisticand good-hearted). Accordingly, benefits to friends of players may beparticularly motivational for a player. According to one embodiment, abenefit provided to a friend of a player may be contingent on the friendperforming one or more activities. For example, a player's friend may beasked to perform an activity in order to receive a benefit.

Rather than displaying the offer directly to the player, the offer maybe displayed to a representative (e.g., via a representative device).This representative may then present the offer to the player in anappropriate manner.

According to one embodiment, the central computer determines (alsoreferred to as identifying) which representative should make the offer.Methods of determining a representative are analogous to those describedherein for determining an offer (e.g., the central computer may use arules-based system, a pseudo-random system). The central computer mayconsider a variety of factors when identifying a representative,including characteristics of representatives, characteristics of theplayer and/or factors relating to offers.

Examples of characteristics of representatives include (i) activities ofrepresentatives (e.g., which representative is currently available?);(ii) skills of representatives (e.g., selling skills, language skills,knowledge of products described in the offer)—for example, if the playeronly speaks Spanish, then the central computer may be careful to selecta representative that also speaks Spanish; (iii) responsibilities ofrepresentatives (e.g., waiting to greet players at the door, keeping thegaming devices clean, serving drinks), some of which may take precedenceover making offers to players; (iv) commissions paid to representatives(e.g., which representative deserves an opportunity to earn additionalcommissions?); (v) locations of representatives (e.g., whichrepresentative is closest to the player?); (vi) preferences ofrepresentatives (e.g., certain representatives may prefer to makecertain types of offers); and/or (vii) other measures of compatibilitywith the player (e.g., age, hobbies, interests).

Examples of characteristics of the player include the player'spreferences (e.g. hobbies, interests); what language the player speaks;the player's offer history—offers that have been made to this player inthe past (e.g., by this representative or other representatives);location of the player (e.g., proximity to representatives); currentactivities being performed by the player (e.g., waiting in line for amusical show); and/or information stored in the player database.

Examples of factors relating to offers include offers that have beenmade to this player in the past (e.g., by this representative or otherrepresentatives); offers that have been made to other players (e.g.,similar players); the activity to be performed in the offer (e.g.,select the representative who can best explain how to perform theactivity); the benefit to be provided in the offer (e.g., select therepresentative who can most easily provide the benefit); and/or thelength of the offer (e.g., how long will it take to complete). Forexample, it may be inappropriate to assign a busy representative to makean offer that typically takes five minutes to complete.

According to one embodiment, a representative identifies himself. Forexample, the central computer may send out a prompt to a plurality ofrepresentatives, inquiring “who wants to make this offer?” Therepresentative who responds first (e.g., by pressing a button on hisPDA) gets to make the offer. As described herein, a representative mayhave identified a player to receive an offer. When identifying theplayer, the representative may also identify himself as therepresentative to make the offer to the player (e.g., “I want to make anoffer to this player.”).

According to one embodiment, a representative may be identified by atleast one other representative. Examples include a first representativemay have identified a player to receive an offer. When identifying theplayer, the first representative may identify a second representative tomake the offer to the player (e.g., “I think we should have Bob make anoffer to this player.”). As another example, representatives may vote onwho gets to make an offer. For example, the central computer maydetermine that a high roller player should receive an offer and thenprompt a group of representatives to choose among themselves who gets tomake the offer to the high roller player.

According to one embodiment, the player may identify a representative tomake the offer. For example, a player may indicate, “I want to get anoffer from Jeff (the representative in the gorilla suit).” According toone embodiment, a friend of the player may identify a representative tomake the offer. For example, a friend of a player may indicate, “I wantJane (representative #34) to make an offer to my friend Andy.”

Where a person (e.g., a player, a representative) identifies arepresentative to make an offer, the representative may be identified byproviding substantially unique information about the representative.Examples include the representative's name; the representative's badgenumber or identification number (e.g., in an embodiment whererepresentatives are assigned numbers by the casino); therepresentative's physical appearance (e.g., the representative dressedin a gorilla suit); and/or methods analogous to those used byrepresentatives for identifying players.

Typically, an offer will be displayed to a representative using therepresentative's PDA. Different types of PDAs are discussed in detailherein. The term “display” is used for convenience and may also refer toother ways that an offer may be output to a representative and perceivedby the representative. Examples of a PDA displaying information to arepresentative include an LCD screen on a notebook computer displaystextual information about an offer; an earphone walkie-talkie plays anaudio prompt describing an offer; and/or a Braille computermonitor/touch pad displays textual information to a blindrepresentative.

According to one embodiment, an indication of a player may be output toa representative using a representative device. For example, arepresentative device may display the name and location of player towhom a representative should present an offer. Examples of indicationsof a player include the player's name, the player's identificationnumber (e.g., from a tracking card), a contact identifier for the player(e.g., the player's cell phone number, email address, credit cardnumber, hotel room, or postal address), a slot machine that is beingoperated by the player (e.g., the player at slot machine #25), theplayer's location (e.g., a representative device may display thelocation of the player in a casino and representative may visit thislocation to find the player and present an offer to the player.),indicating a sufficient number of characteristics of the player toidentify him relative to other players in the area. (e.g., male, grayhair, slightly balding, mustache, wearing a red and white Hawaiian-printshirt, smoking cigar, drinking margarita), indicating an activity beingperformed by the player (e.g., the player operating the ATM machine),indicating a biometric of the player (e.g., a photograph of the player).A player may be indicated to a representative using a combination ofdifferent methods. For example, a representative device may direct arepresentative to present an offer to “Tom Jones, the red-haired playerat the Wheel of Riches slot machine.”

According to one embodiment, an indication of a plurality of players maybe output to a representative using a representative device. Forexample, a representative may be prompted to present offers to allplayers at a group of slot machines, or any player at a bank of videopoker machines. Note that identifying a group of players may includeidentifying a location of the group or identifying at least one playerin the group. This embodiment may be particularly helpful when there area large number of players in an area of a casino, when a plurality ofplayers are selected to receive offers, or when an offer is to bepresented to a plurality of players (e.g., for a team activity).

According to one embodiment, a representative device may displayinformation relating to at least one player. This information may beuseful in assisting a representative in presenting an offer to a player,convincing a player to accept an offer, determining a player to whom anoffer should be presented, or determining an offer to present to aplayer. For example, a representative device may display informationabout a player's gaming activities (e.g., comp points), characteristicsof a player (e.g., occupation, hobbies, interests, languages spoken),information about a player's visit to a casino (e.g., hotel stay,purchasing history), or other information stored in a player database.

According to one embodiment, different casino reps may have differentlevels of access to information that may be displayed through arepresentative device. For example, a low-level representative may onlybe allowed to display information about a player's gaming activities andpreviously accepted offers, whereas a higher-level (e.g., bettertrained) representative may also have access to information about aplayer's purchasing history and hotel stay.

According to one embodiment, displaying an offer to a representative isan interactive process, described in detail herein.

According to one embodiment, an offer may be displayed to multiplerepresentatives. For example, multiple representatives may coordinate tomake an offer to a player. As another example, there may be a queue ofoffers to be made, and all representatives are able to view the queuevia their representative devices. Whenever a representative is free, hemakes the next offer on the queue to the appropriate player.

An offer may be presented privately to a representative. For example, itmay be desirable to ensure that no other parties (e.g., players) areable to view an offer that is presented to a representative. Forexample, a representative may use headphones to listen to an offer.

In one embodiment, a representative may have a security level thatdefines which types of information he may or may not receive.Accordingly, the representative may have to log in using therepresentative device and thereby make his security level known. Therepresentative may alternatively or additionally have to use aparticular representative device (or one of a set of particularrepresentative devices) that restricts access to the appropriate typesof information.

An offer may be presented publicly to a representative. For example, anoffer may be displayed on a large projection television that is viewableby everyone in the sports book section of a casino. The representativemay show this offer to the identified player and explain it to him.

According to one embodiment, the entire offer may not be displayed tothe representative. Instead, a representative's PDA may just displayenough partial information about the offer. For example, arepresentative's PDA may display an offer identifier (e.g., offer #3).In this example the representative may have memorized that offer #3corresponds to offering the player 200 credits if he agrees to sign upfor a new credit card.

In another embodiment, an offer may be ambiguous, allowing therepresentative to determine at least one portion of the offer on hisown. (e.g., “Offer the player some credits for switching to MCI”) Arepresentative's PDA may also just prompt him to “Make an offer (anyoffer) to the player”.

In another embodiment, an offer may be expressed in shorthand of somesort. For example, a representative may be able to interpret themessage, “Activity: credit card, Benefit: Meal” means that therepresentative should make the following offer to the player, “Goodafternoon, Mr. Rogers, and welcome to the Lucky Dice Casino. I hope yourday is going well, and I'd like to make you a special offer. I've beenauthorized to give you a free meal ticket for two to eat at the CoffeeShop, located here in the casino. They're having a special today onprime rib, and beers are always just $1. All you have to do to qualifyfor this offer is to sign up for a new credit card from Blue Bank. Ifyou're interested, I can process your credit card application right now.Would you like to accept this offer for a new credit card and a freemeal at the Coffee Shop?”

In another embodiment, a representative may have freedom to determinehow an offer is made to a player. For example, a representative may beallowed to choose his own words when making an offer to a player.

Upon viewing the offer on his PDA, the representative may then presentthe offer to the player. This may be done by approaching the player andspeaking with him. The player is then given an opportunity to accept theoffer or reject the offer.

According to various embodiments of the invention, a player may indicatehis acceptance or rejection of an offer in a variety of different ways,including but not limited to speaking to the representative (e.g.,“Yes”, “I accept”, or “No”); performing the activity described in theoffer (e.g., answering survey questions); accepting the benefitdescribed in the offer (e.g., 200 free credits); and/or operating aninput device (e.g., associated with a gaming device or a PDA). Forexample, a representative may hand his PDA to a player so that theplayer can read over the terms of an offer and then press the “I accept”button on the PDA. In a second example, a video poker machine beingoperated by a player may display the terms of an offer along with an “Iaccept” touch-screen button.

If the player accepts the offer, then he agrees to perform the activityspecified in the offer in exchange for receiving the benefit specifiedin the offer. According to one embodiment, an accepted offer maycomprise an agreement or contract between the player and the casino.

According to one embodiment, the representative may use his PDA toindicate whether the player accepted or rejected the offer (e.g., byoperating a keypad or touch screen).

Information about the player's acceptance or rejection of an offer maybe transmitted to the central computer and stored in the offer trackingdatabase.

According to one embodiment, the acceptance or rejection of an offer maycomprise a trigger (described herein), prompting the central computer todetermine a second offer that should be made to the player. This secondoffer may then be displayed to the representative or player through thePDA.

According to one embodiment, the player may have an opportunity torequest additional information about an offer. In this case, therepresentative may use his PDA to access additional information aboutthe offer (e.g., details as to exactly what activity must be performed,the conditions under which the benefit will be provided, etc.). Thisadditional information may be stored in the offer database by thecentral computer.

According to one embodiment, an input device (e.g., associated with therepresentative's PDA or a nearby gaming device) may be used to monitorthe presentation of the offer. The recording of the representativepresenting the offer and the player's response may then be viewed by acasino manager or by a voice recognition module in the central computer.Monitoring the presentation of an offer may be useful for variousreasons, including verifying that the representative presented the offercorrectly; determining what offer was presented and how the offer waspresented (e.g., in an embodiment where the representative is permittedto choose his own words when presenting the offer to the player);determining the player's reaction to the offer (e.g., happiness,ambivalence, confusion); and/or determining the player's response to theoffer (e.g., accepted, rejected, ignored).

According to one embodiment, an indication of the offer may be sent toat least one friend of the player. Knowing that his friend is aware ofan offer may provide additional motivation for the player to complete anactivity described in an offer. For example, the central computer mayprompt a casino employee to telephone a player's friend and tell him,“Your friend John has the opportunity to win $50 for you by playing slotmachines at a casino.” Alternatively, the central computer may email allof a player's friends (e.g., including friends who are not eligible towin benefits) and tell them that a player has accepted or rejected anoffer.

According to one embodiment, the central computer may determine whethera player has performed an activity designated by an offer. This may behelpful when determining whether to provide a benefit to the player(since this benefit will typically not be provided if a player fails toperform the activity).

The method of determining whether an activity is performed is oftendependent on the type of activity that a player has been prompted toperform. For example, if a player is prompted to perform an activity ofmaking one hundred handle pulls at a slot machine, then the centralcomputer may monitor the number of handle pulls that the player has madeat the slot machine. The central computer may determine whether anactivity has been performed in a variety of manners, including but notlimited to receiving information from a representative (e.g., arepresentative may indicate that a player has filled out an applicationfor a new credit card or agreed to purchase a magazine subscription);receiving information from the player (e.g., when a player performs anactivity of making a forward commitment to test drive an automobile);receiving information from one more other computer systems (e.g., if aplayer is required to perform an activity of signing up for a new creditcard, then the central computer may receive information from a creditbureau); monitoring a player's activities at one or more gaming devices(e.g., by communicating with a gaming device through a communicationnetwork); storing data regarding a player's gaming activities (e.g., inthe player database shown in FIG. 5); receiving information from one ormore gaming devices; receiving information from one or more devices(e.g., camera, recording device, sensor) placed (e.g., by arepresentative) on or near a gaming device; receiving information fromone or more point-of-sale terminals (e.g., for activities in which theplayer is required to purchase a product or service); and/or monitoringconditions related to the activity (e.g., monitoring the current time ifthe activity has an expiration date).

In one embodiment, the activity to be performed by a player comprisesmaking an agreement or forward commitment (e.g., agreeing to purchase aproduct or service). In this case, the player may complete the activityjust by making the agreement, and have the benefit provided to himalmost immediately.

According to one embodiment, a player may use an authentication code toprove that he performed one or more activities. This authentication codemay be an alphanumeric code, password, or other information thatprovides the central computer with a reasonable assurance that theplayer performed one or more activities as required. According to oneembodiment, an authentication code is produced using a cryptographicalgorithm (e.g., a cryptographic hash function). Typically, anauthentication code is generated by a device that has the ability todetermine whether a player performed an activity. For example, a gamingdevice may output an authentication code indicating that a player madeone hundred handle pulls at that gaming device. An authentication codemay be output using an output device (e.g. a printer, a video monitor).

In one embodiment, a representative's PDA is not connected to thecentral computer using a communication network. In this embodiment, therepresentative offers a player a free meal at the casino buffet if heanswers twenty survey questions. The player agrees to the offer andanswers the survey questions. The representative then uses his PDA toprint out an authentication code on a paper receipt and gives thisreceipt to the player. The player may then take this receipt to thecasino buffet and request that he receive the free meal. A hostess atthe casino buffet may then use a device to determine if theauthentication code on the receipt is valid, indicating that the playerdid in fact answer the survey questions. Since the authentication codeis valid, the player is allowed to eat at the casino buffet for free.

According to one embodiment, the central computer may have incompleteinformation as to whether a player performed an activity. For example, adealer at a casino may be responsible for verifying that a player hasgambled at least $300 at blackjack, but the dealer may forget to performthis job. In this case, the central computer may resolve this situationin a variety of different ways, including assuming that the player didin fact complete the activity and provide the benefit to him; assumingthat the player did not complete the activity and not provide thebenefit to him; providing a reduced or alternative benefit to theplayer; offering to allow the player to perform a second activity toearn the benefit; and/or asking other employees (or even other players)whether the activity was completed.

According to one embodiment, a player may be reminded of an offer whileperforming an activity. For example, a video screen on a gaming devicemay display a message to the player telling him how much longer he hasto gamble before he earns a benefit. Alternatively, an animatedcharacter in a video game may remind the player that if he continues toplay the game well, he may be able to win a benefit. In anotherembodiment, a representative may remind the player.

The representative may have several interactions with a player in thecontext of a single offer. For example, a representative may approach aplayer a first time with an offer, and the player may refuse or notimmediately accept the offer. The representative may accordingly beinstructed by the representative device to return one or more times tointeract with the player. Alternatively, the representative device maymaintain an indication of the need to return to the player (e.g., a mapof the casino floor with a flashing dot to indicate slot machine #29where the player was).

According to one embodiment, the central computer may indicate to theplayer whether or not he has performed an activity. For example, agaming device operated by the player may display a text message, “Nicework! You just won a subscription to People magazine.” In anotherembodiment, a light on top of a video poker machine may flash and anaudio speaker may proclaim to a player, “Whoops! You just missed youropportunity to earn 100 comp points.” In another embodiment, a videomonitor on a gaming device may display a message, “You're not done yet!If you play one hundred more handle pulls at this gaming device, thenyou'll win a pair of tickets to Wrestlemania.”

According to one embodiment, a subsidizer may provide a subsidy relatedto a player's performance of an activity. Such a subsidy may be providedbecause an activity has value to the subsidizer. For example, asubsidizer may derive value from a customer signing up for a new creditcard (the issuing bank may be a subsidizer), viewing an advertisement(the advertiser may be a subsidizer), or getting three friends toregister with a website (the website may be a subsidizer).

According to one embodiment, a subsidizer provides a subsidy to thecasino. Examples of subsidies that may be provided to the casino includepayments (e.g., in money or an alternate currency like frequent flyermiles), products, services, and other forms of consideration.

A subsidy may be provided at various different times including before,after or substantially simultaneously with an activity performed by aplayer. Subsidies may be provided en mass. For example, a subsidizer maypay a casino $10,000 to have players view 100,000 hours ofadvertisements.

Further, subsidy values may be based on a variety of factors, includingthose used in determining an offer, as described herein.

According to one embodiment, a subsidizer provides a subsidy directly toa player. In this case, the subsidy benefit may be equivalent to, or inaddition to a benefit that is provided to the player. The subsidy mayalso take the form of paying all or part of the commission for arepresentative.

According to one embodiment, the central computer may communicate with asubsidizer device to determine information about subsidies. For example,the central computer may negotiate with merchants to develop crosssubsidy offers, develop the language of the offers and associatedgraphics, and handle back office billing and penalties associated withthe offers. In addition, the central computer may store informationabout subsidizers in a subsidizer database (not shown).

According to one embodiment, if a player performs an activity specifiedin an offer, then that player may receive a benefit. According to oneembodiment, a benefit provided to a player may be determined based onthe activity performed. For example, the benefit may be based on whatactivity is performed. For example, a player may be given a choice ofgambling for three hours at a slot machine or gambling for three hoursat a video poker machine. If the player gambles for three hours at theslot machine, then he earns tickets to a musical. If the player gamblesfor three hours at a video poker machine, then he earns tickets to aboxing match.

The benefit may also be based on how well an activity is performed. Forexample, a player may be given the opportunity to earn five comp pointsfor every survey question he answers. If the player answers twelvesurvey questions, then he earns sixty comp points.

Note that a benefit may be provided by a variety of different parties,including the central computer (e.g., by crediting a player's financialaccount); the casino (e.g., a casino employee may mail a check); therepresentative (e.g., the representative may give a player 500 credits);and/or another party (e.g., a subsidizer, a product manufacturer, aservice provider).

According to one embodiment, a representative may provide a benefit to aplayer using a PDA. For example, in an embodiment in which gamingdevices are not networked, a player may perform an activity and earn abenefit of two hundred credits on the gaming device that he is currentlyoperating. In order to provide this benefit to the player, arepresentative may first use a serial cable to connect his PDA to thegaming device. Then the representative may use his PDA to transmit anencrypted message to the gaming device, causing the gaming device to addfive hundred credits to the player's balance. (A potential security riskmay exist in providing a benefit in this way. However, there may also bea value in having players see a representative use his PDA to “unlock” abenefit in a gaming device or cause coins/tokens to fall into the cointray of a gaming device.)

In an environment where the gaming devices are networked, therepresentative could provide a benefit to a player by providing him witha cashless gaming voucher that can be entered into the player's gamingdevice to increase the player's credit balance. Alternatively, therepresentative could swipe a card having a magnetic strip through a cardreader on the gaming device in order to unlock a benefit, or to put thegaming device into a different payout mode in which top jackpots aredoubled, for example.

While the above methods of providing benefits to a player may resultfrom the acceptance by a player of one or more offers, it should also benoted that the casino may provide benefits to players without therequirement that they accept an offer. For example, a premium customeron the floor who has been playing for more than two hours may trigger amessage to appear on the representative's PDA indicating that he shouldwalk up to the player and thank him for his play, or provide a comp suchas a free dinner or show. The representative could also provide abenefit as described above by using the PDA to unlock a benefit in themachine. The prompt displayed to the representative might be somethinglike “go to machine #3419 and wish Mary Jones a happy birthday.”

According to one embodiment, a player may not perform the activityspecified in an offer. The central computer may respond to thisoccurrence in at least one of a variety of ways, including not providingthe benefit to the player; providing a reduced or alternative benefit tothe player; offering to allow the player to perform a second activity tocam the benefit; and/or not providing offers in the future to thatplayer.

According to one embodiment, a player may be penalized if he does notperform an activity specified in an offer. For example, the centralcomputer may output an offer to the player in which the player gets $15if he pulls the handle of a slot machine one hundred times. However, ifthe player accepts this offer and does not spin the slot reef onehundred times, then the player will be penalized $15. Similarly, aplayer's performance of an activity may be penalty-secured, as describedherein.

Commissions for Representatives

By compensating representatives for performing actions relating tooffers, they may be more motivated to perform their jobs well.

In one embodiment, a representative may receive a commission forperforming one or more actions, typically actions which are related toan offer. One possible action includes making an offer to a player. Forexample, a representative may get 200 points each time he makes an offerto a player. In one embodiment, a representative may get $5 each time heconvinces a player to accept an offer.

In addition, a representative may receive compensation according to howthese actions are performed. For example, a representative may receive10 points for conforming exactly to the wording in a prompt, but willreceive only 7 points if he paraphrases a prompt. The central computermay determine various information about an upsell. The central computermay determine whether a representative made an offer to a player andwhether the offer was spoken correctly.

In one embodiment of the invention, the central computer may have accessto a clock useful for determining the time taken to make an offer. Forexample, the central computer may determine how long it takes arepresentative to make an offer to a player. This information may beuseful in determining compensations for representatives.

Representatives may be paid according to any of a wide variety ofcommission schemes. Many commission schemes are possible. For example,representatives may receive commission based upon various measurementsof their performance or actions that they perform (e.g. A representativeis paid $5 for each offer that he makes that is accepted by a player).The commissions paid to a representative may increase as morecommissions are paid out (e.g. A representative receives $2 forcompleting his first offer, $3 for his second offer, $4 for his thirdoffer). A representative may be paid according to the performance of hisentire team (e.g. every representative in the video poker room gets paid$5 when any one of them completes an offer). A team commission schememay encourage representatives to work in teams to provide betterservice. In one embodiment, a representative is paid according to hisperformance relative to other representatives. For example,representatives may be in competition to receive a prize: whoever hasthe most accepted offers on a given day wins the daily commission pot.

In one embodiment, the commission paid to a representative varies. Forexample, on Tuesdays, a representative gets $2 for each accepted offer,but on Saturdays the representative gets $1.25 for each accepted offer.A dynamic commission scheme may help to offset the effects of peakgaming hours, or prevent a representative from becoming habituated toonly making a particular type of offer to a particular type of player.

The commission may be based on the profit generated by the action. Forexample, a representative may use his PDA to view a benefit that couldbe provided to a player and a list of activities that the player couldperform. If the representative is successful in convincing the player toperform one of the activities, then the commission paid to therepresentative may be proportional to the value of the activity. Thatis, the representative may get a larger commission if he convinces theplayer to perform a high value activity.

Representatives may be paid commissions which reflect the downtime ofthose working under them.

In addition to the above methods of calculating commissions, commissionsmay be paid in many possible manners. For example, commissions may bepaid at the end of the week as part of a paycheck, credited to anaccount (e.g. automatically credited to a specified financial accountsuch as a bank account or credit card balance); paid through a couponmechanism (e.g. a receipt, coupon, or check indicating his fulfillmentof the prompt); paid in increments (e.g. $20 total at a rate of $5 perweek for the next four weeks); and/or obtained by the representative(e.g. $1 taken out of the cash register, a free hamburger at the end ofa shift).

Commissions may be provided to representatives in the form of alternatecurrency, such as points. That is, representatives are allocated acertain number of points for each offer. This may be done to preventrepresentatives from becoming discouraged by low incremental commissions(e.g. a representative may find it more appealing to receive two hundredpoints rather than twenty cents). Points may be accumulated over time.The various commission schemes and methods of payment used for monetarycompensation are also applicable to points systems.

In one embodiment, representatives are able to convert points to money,merchandise, or services. For example, a representative may be able totrade 10,000 points for a new jacket. Each representative may be given acatalog of merchandise that can be purchased using points. Also, acommission scheme that uses points may be appealing to employers becauseit can help to encourage representatives to spend their commissions incertain ways. For example, representatives may be given the option oftrading 1000 points for a free movie pass. (Note that a movie theatermay be willing to subsidize this use of points.)

Points are only one way that representatives may receive compensation inthe form of goods and services. Goods and services may also be providedindependent of a points system. For example, a representative mayreceive a two-hour lunch break in exchange for completing a particularlyvaluable offer. Likewise, a representative who makes 1,000 successfuloffers may be entered into a lottery to win a free trip to Hawaii.Alternatively, representatives may be rewarded with coupons or otherdiscounts on goods and services. Of course, compensation in the form ofgoods and services may employ any of the various payment options andcommission schemes described earlier.

In addition, different representatives may receive different commissionsfor performing the same action, thereby providing greater commissions orpersonalized commissions to certain representatives. For example, arepresentative who is new to the job may receive greater commissions formaking offers to certain types of players, thereby conditioning him toapproach these players more often. A representative who enjoysbasketball may receive personalized commissions by earning pointstowards a new pair of basketball shoes. Another representative mayprefer to receive commissions in the form of cash rather than points. Inone embodiment, representatives may be permitted to select their ownform of personalized commissions.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the central computer usesperformance feedback to determine commissions provided torepresentatives. The central computer may determine or receiveinformation relating to the success of certain commission schemes, andthen use this information to determine how to best compensaterepresentatives in the fixture. For example, the central computer mayuse the same commission scheme for all representatives: eachrepresentative receives five cents for making an offer to a player. PDAscarried by representatives may then provide information to the centralcomputer relating to the number of offers that have been accepted. Inthis example, only 20% of the offers have been accepted, so the centralcomputer modifies the commission scheme so that representatives nowreceive ten cents for each time that they make an offer to a player.

Modifying commission, as discussed herein, is different from modifyingmethods of displaying commission information.

Prompt recognition and payment of sales commissions helps to motivatesalesmen and other representatives. If representatives have to wait lesstime to receive their commissions, the rewards for good behavior aremore immediate and thus more easily perceived. This helps to makecommissions more appealing to representatives, which in turn motivatesthese representatives to sell more items.

One particularly interesting aspect of embodiments of the invention isthat PDAs carried by representatives may be used to display informationabout commissions that may be provided to the representatives. This canhelp motivate representatives to make more offers, be more enthusiasticabout making offers, and be more successful in convincing players toaccept offers.

There are a number of different ways of displaying information aboutcommissions. Any display strategy or combination thereof may be usedwith any type of commission described. For example, it is possible tooutput incremental information about a future commission graphically inthe form of a prompt. Similarly, a representative may receiveinformation about both his incremental commission and his cumulativecommission.

Information about commission may be output privately so that only asingle representative or a specific group of representatives may viewthe commission information that is output. For example, commissioninformation may be displayed to an employee on his PDA. Outputtingcommission information privately to a group of representatives may beparticularly applicable when a team-based commission scheme is used.

Output devices may present commission information publicly. For example,a public announcement (PA) system may be used to output commissioninformation to a group of people. Such commission information mightdescribe how a certain representative has achieved his monthly goal ofthree thousand accepted offers. As another example, a video monitorvisible to all representatives may display the cumulative commissions ofdifferent representatives relative to each other.

In one embodiment of the invention, commission information is describedto representatives in incremental terms. In other words, the informationthat is output describes increments of compensation as opposed tocumulative commissions. Possible increments of compensation include theamount of commission earned for successfully completing a particularoffer, the amount of commission earned for making a particular offer,and/or the amount of commission earned for a specific action.

Outputting information about incremental commissions may be particularlymotivational to representatives because it may help to focus arepresentative's attention on the action necessary to earn eachincremental commission.

Information about an incremental commission may be output after thecompensation is provided. For example, after each accepted offer, arepresentative's PDA may display the number of points that therepresentative earned for making that offer.

Information about an incremental commission may be output before thecompensation is provided. For example, a PDA may indicate to arepresentative that he should offer a player a trial magazinesubscription and that he will receive 10 points for making this offer.

Information about an incremental commission may be output as part of aprompt. For example, a PDA may display a prompt to a representative,wherein this prompt includes both an offer and a commission. If therepresentative makes the offer, then the representative will receive thecommission described in the prompt.

Information about an incremental commission may be output relative to agoal. For example, a video screen on a representative's PDA may displayto him that he just moved ten points closer to his goal of winning freemovie tickets.

Commission information may be output incrementally relative to otherrepresentatives. For example, Andy's PDA may display to him that he justmoved fifteen points closer to Bob, who is the representative with themost cumulative points.

In one embodiment of the invention, commission information is describedto representatives in cumulative terms. That is, the information that isoutput describes the total amount of commissions that have been earnedover a given period. In one embodiment, this cumulative commission isthe sum of multiple incremental commissions. Examples of cumulativecommissions include the amount of commission earned during a certainperiod of time, the amount of commission earned during a certain numberof attempted offers, and/or the amount of compensation earned by a groupof representatives.

Information about cumulative commission may be output after a commissionis provided. For example, after each accepted offer, a representative'sPDA may display the number of points that he has earned during the lastweek.

Information about cumulative commissions may be output before thecommission is provided. For example, representative's PDA may indicateto the representative that he should make a particular offer to a playerand that the representative will have three hundred points total aftermaking this offer.

Information about cumulative commissions may be output as part of aprompt. For example, a representative's PDA may display a prompt to therepresentative, wherein this prompt includes both an offer to be madeand a cumulative commission value. If the representative succeeds inconvincing a player to accept the offer, then the representative's totalamount of commissions will be set to the value described in the prompt.

Information about a cumulative commission may be output relative to agoal. For example, a video screen may display to a representative thathe needs only one hundred fifty more points to win a free pair of movietickets. Such information may be displayed textually (e.g. “You need 150points”) or graphically (e.g. a pie chart showing what percentage of thepoints for the movie tickets have been earned).

Information about cumulative commissions may be output relative to otherrepresentatives. For example, a video monitor in the employee lounge maydisplay that Andy is only fifteen points behind Bob, who is therepresentative with the most cumulative points for the month. Similarly,the video monitor in the employee lounge may display that Andy has 1230points and Bob has 1245 points.

Commission may also be output relative to a goal. In one embodiment, agoal is described as a cumulative amount of commissions. For example, arepresentative may have a goal of earning 3000 points. However, othergoals are also possible, including a cumulative amount of commissionsover time (e.g. 500 points in the next hour), a cumulative amount ofcommission over a number of attempted offers (e.g. 500 points in thenext 50 attempted offers), and/or a cumulative function of commission(e.g. an average of 10 points per offer).

In one embodiment, representatives earn commissions in the form ofpoints. These points are a form of alternate currency, which may beexchanged for prizes like movie tickets, food, clothing, or sportinggoods. Commission information may be output to a representative relativeto one of these prizes. For example, an earphone may tell arepresentative, “You only need 65 more points to win a new pair ofbasketball shoes.”

In one embodiment, a representative is permitted to select his own goal.For example, a representative may indicate that he wants to earn a $100bonus or that he hopes to earn the 5000 points necessary to win a newset of golf clubs. In this case, commission may be displayed relative tothe goal selected by the representative.

Commissions relative to a goal may be described in increments. Forexample, a representative may be told, “By completing that offer, youjust earned 10 points towards a free round of golf.”

Commissions relative to a goal may be described cumulatively. Forexample, a representative may be told, “You need just 30 more points towin the representative of the month award.”

Commissions relative to a goal may be described using a cumulativefunction. For example, a representative may be told, “On average, youneed to complete 10 more offers per hour in order to win a newskateboard before Christmas.”

Past commissions may be output relative to a goal. For example, arepresentative may be told, “Over the last week, you earned 50 pointsless than you needed to win the representative of the month award.”

Future commissions may be output relative to a goal. For example, arepresentative may be told, “If you average 10 offers per hour for therest of this shift, then you'll win a $20 pre-paid calling card.”

A prompt may include commissions relative to a goal. For example, arepresentative may be told, “Offer this player 50 credits if he agreesto eat dinner at the casino buffet. If he accepts, you'll need just 20more points to earn a plaque of recognition.”

Commissions may also be output relative to other representatives orother groups of representatives. In one embodiment, this may foster aspirit of competition between representatives, thereby motivating themto work harder in the hope of besting their fellow representatives. Forexample, Andy and Bob may be rival representatives, and Andy may be verymotivated to see that he has 500 more points than Bob.

Commissions relative to other representatives may be described inincremental terms. For example, a representative's PDA may displayinformation indicating that the representative will move five pointsahead of Bob if he completes a certain offer.

Commissions relative to other representatives may be described incumulative terms. For example, a video monitor in the employee loungemay display that Andy is only fifteen points behind Bob, who is therepresentative with the most cumulative points for the month. Similarly,the video monitor in the employee lounge may display that Andy has 1230points and Bob has 1245 points.

Commissions relative to other representatives may be described in termsof a cumulative function of commission. For example, a representative'sPDA may display the text, “If you average 10 points per hour for thenext 2 days, then you will have more points than Bob.” Similarly, arepresentative may be told that his average number of accepted offersper hour is 10% better than Bob's average number of accepted offers perhour.

Past commissions may be output relative to other representatives. Forexample, a representative's PDA may display the text, “You have 15points less than Bob has.”

Future commissions may be output relative to other representatives. Forexample, a representative's PDA may display the text, “If you completethis offer, then you'll have 15 points less than Bob has.”

Commissions relative to other representatives may be included in aprompt. For example, a representative's PDA may display the text, “Offerthis player a cookie if he'll answer a couple of survey questions. Doingthis will put you 15 points ahead of Bob.”

Rather than outputting the cumulative commission for a particularrepresentative, the central computer may output any cumulative functionof commissions. For example, a video screen may display to arepresentative his average daily commissions from the last month.Possible cumulative functions of commissions comprise the averagecommission over a time period, the average commission over a number ofattempted offers, and the mode, derivative, rate at which commissionsare changing and standard deviation of commissions received.

Information about a cumulative function of commission may be outputafter the commission is provided. For example, a gaming device, PDA orpoint-of-sale terminal may indicate to a representative that he hasaveraged 8.3 points per transaction over the last week.

Information about a cumulative function of commissions may be outputbefore a commission is provided. For example, a PDA may indicate to arepresentative that he should offer a player a new credit card and thatif he completes this offer then he will have an average of thirty twopoints per hour.

Information about a cumulative function of commissions may be output aspart of a prompt. For example, a point-of-sale terminal may display aprompt to a representative, wherein this prompt includes both an offerand a commission. If the offer is accepted, then the representative'saverage amount of commission will be set to the number described in theprompt.

Information about a cumulative commission may be output relative to agoal. For example, a video screen may display to a representative thathe needs to average forty-two points per hour for the rest of the day inorder to win a free pair of movie tickets.

Information about a cumulative commission may be output relative toother representatives. For example, a video monitor in the employeelounge may display that Andy is averaging five fewer accepted offers perhour than Bob. Similarly, the video monitor in the employee lounge maydisplay that Andy is averaging fourteen accepted offers per hour and Bobis averaging nineteen accepted offers per hour.

In one embodiment, the prompt that is output to a representativedescribes both an offer (e.g., offer to give a player a hotel room forthe night if he agrees to gamble for the next 6 hours) and a commission(e.g., receive 10 points). Outputting commission information in this waymay help representatives to associate particular offers with thecommissions that are provided for making these offers. For example, arepresentative may receive a textual prompt, “If you convince the playerto accept an offer for a new credit card, then you will receive 15points.”

Commission information that is output as part of a prompt may bedescribed in incremental terms. For example, a prompt may tell arepresentative, “Offer this player a free Winnebago test drive andyou'll get 10 points.”

Commission information that is output as part of a prompt may bedescribed in cumulative terms. For example, a prompt may tell arepresentative, “If you convince this player to gamble for the next 3hours, then you will have 510 points total.”

A prompt may include information about past commissions. For example, aprompt may tell a representative, “So far you have 235 points total;please offer the player a free spin if he answers a few surveyquestions.”

A prompt may include information about future commissions. For example,a representative's PDA may display a textual prompt, “If you convincethe player to accept an offer to switch his long distance telephoneprovider, then you will receive 10 points.”

A prompt may describe a commission relative to a goal. For example, arepresentative's PDA may display a textual prompt, “If you offer theplayer 200 credits to switch his Internet service provider, then you'llonly need 35 more points to win a basketball.”

A prompt may describe a commission relative to other representatives.For example, a representative's PDA may display a textual prompt,“You're only 5 points behind Oscar. If you can convince this player toaccept an offer to sign up for a new credit card, then you'll have the2^(nd) most points of any representative.”

The commission information that is output to a representative maydescribe a commission that has already been provided (i.e., a “past”commission). For example, a representative's PDA may display to him thathe has earned 523 points in the last week. In this case, the act ofoutputting the commission helps to inform a representative of his pastperformance. Thus a representative is recognized for work that he hasperformed, which may help to increase morale and motivate therepresentative to perform similarly in the future.

Alternatively, the commission information that is output to arepresentative may describe a commission that has not yet been provided(i.e. a “future” commission). In one embodiment, such information aboutfuture commissions is hypothetical. That is, the representative may onlyreceive the described commission if he performs a particular action. Forexample, information about a future commission may be included in aprompt that is output to a representative, “If you convince this playerto accept the offer for the magazine subscription, then you will receive15 points.” Outputting information about future commissions may help tomotivate a representative to perform a action in anticipation of thecommission that he will receive.

In one embodiment, commission information is not output in the same wayto every representative. For example, commission information may beoutput to a first representative by describing an incremental commissionin a prompt that is displayed on the video screen of his PDA. Incontrast, a second representative may use an earphone to listen toinformation about his cumulative commission relative to a goal.

In one embodiment, the method of outputting commission information isset independently for each representative. This way, each representativemay receive commission information that is the most motivational to him.For example, one representative may be highly motivated by seeing hisprogress towards a goal, whereas a second representative may be moremotivated to see her cumulative commission relative to otherrepresentatives.

In one embodiment, representatives are permitted to select howcommission information is output to them. For example, a representativemay select that he would like to receive information about hiscumulative commission relative to a goal of winning a free pair of movietickets. Likewise, representatives may be permitted to select how theyreceive commission information according to any of the other factorsdescribed herein. Information about commissions may then be output torepresentatives according to their respective selections.

In one embodiment, a representative may receive different commissioninformation at different times. For example, it could be that a certainrepresentative is a football fan, and on the weekends is highlymotivated by receiving commission information about his progress towardswinning a new football. However, on weekdays (when there is no footballon television), this representative may be more motivated to receiveinformation about his commission relative to other representatives. Inthis case, different commission information may be output to therepresentative based on the day of the week. The central computer mayalso determine various other reasons to vary the commission informationthat is output to a representative, including representativepreferences, historical data, and success/failure with particulardisplay strategies.

In one embodiment, different commission information may be outputaccording to the transaction rate of one or more gaming devices. Onereason for doing this is that it may take time for representatives toview and respond to commission information that is output to them.During periods of time when there are lots of players gambling,commission information may be output less often, or described in lessdetail. This should help to prevent representatives from spending toomuch time viewing commission information. Alternatively, during slowperiods, the system may output more comprehensive information about acommission. For example, an LCD screen on a PDA may be used to displaydetailed information about a goal item, or a representative may be ableto browse through his historical commission statistics. In addition, itmay be that certain vendors may be willing to offset some of the costfor a goal item for the opportunity to provide this targeted marketingto a specific representative or groups of representatives.

In one embodiment, the central computer uses feedback to determine howto output commission information to a particular representative. Thatis, the central computer monitors the results of outputting certaincommission information to a representative and then accordingly adjustshow commission information will be output to this representative in thefuture. For example, the central computer may output commissioninformation to a representative according to a specific display strategy(e.g. cumulative commissions relative to a goal). It may then monitorthe success of this display strategy, possibly by examining the offertracking database to see the representative's success at completingoffers. If this display strategy is unsuccessful in motivating therepresentative, then the central computer may modify the displaystrategy.

In a more detailed example of the use of feedback, a representative mayuse a PDA to indicate that he is interested in earning points toward apair of movie tickets. However, outputting cumulative commissioninformation relative to the goal of winning a pair of movie tickets doesnot seem to motivate the representative very well; only 30% of hisoffers are accepted by players. To rectify this situation, the centralcomputer attempts a new display strategy, this time displaying therepresentative's cumulative commission relative to otherrepresentatives. This display strategy proves to be much more effective,and the representative's take rate on offers increases to 60%. Thus,feedback may be used to vary the output of commission information.

As described herein, commission information may be output in the form oftext or audio. It is also possible that commission information may berepresented in other forms, including graphically. For example, ratherthan having a representative PDA displaying text that says, “You are 205points behind Bob,” a video screen may be used to display a bar graphindicating the relative commissions of the representative and Bob.

Various other graphical outputs are also possible, and many areanalogous to the textual examples described herein. For example, a videoscreen on a PDA may be used to display the text of a prompt (“Offer thisplayer 100 credits if he signs up for a new credit card”) and a piegraph showing how many points a representative has earned relative tohis goal of winning free tickets to an amusement park.

In another example, a color LCD screen on a representative's PDA may beused to display a picture of the representative's goal item (anautographed Michael Jordan poster) and a line graph indicating therepresentative's progress towards achieving this goal.

In another example, a television monitor in the employee lounge is usedto display an animated picture of four racecars, each one correspondingto a different representative. The racecars are shown to be racingaround a track at speeds corresponding to the offer acceptance rates ofeach of the different representatives. The racecar in the lead willcorrespond to the representative who has convinced the most players toaccept offers.

In one embodiment, employees receive penalties (also referred to as“negative commissions”) for certain actions. Different forms ofpenalties are analogous to the different forms of commissions that aredescribed herein. For example, a representative whose offer is rejectedmay lose ten points. Other examples of penalties include penaltiesapplied to a team of representatives, additional work duties/hours, andpenalties that vary dynamically. Outputting information about penaltiesis done in a similar manner to the output methods described herein.

In one embodiment, employees may receive both commissions and penalties.For example, a representative may gain ten points for making an offer toa player, but lose fifteen points if the player rejects the offer. Inone embodiment, information about a penalty may be output to arepresentative along with an indication of how he can earn back thesepoints. For example, a representative may be told that he just lost tenpoints for speaking an offer incorrectly to a player, and that he canearn back these ten points by making another offer to the player.

In one embodiment, representatives receive only penalties. For example,a representative may start his shift with 1000 points. During the courseof his shift, he loses points for performing the wrong actions orperforming actions incorrectly. At one point, he loses 5 points forhaving an offer rejected. Commission information may be displayed to therepresentative by showing him the total number of points that he hasleft out of the 1000 that he had when he started. If the representativehas more than 750 points at the end of his shift, then he wins a freepair of movie tickets.

Outputting Additional Information

Additional information may be output to representatives. In oneembodiment, information output to a representative includes comments,criticisms, suggestions, or encouragement from a manager or otherrepresentatives. For example, a representative may receive commissioninformation saying, “You earned 500 more points this week than lastweek,” with a comment from the manager, “Keep up the good work! Playerswill accept offers more often if you smile more.” Such information maybe generated by the central computer, a representative's peers or by arepresentative's supervisor.

In one embodiment, the central computer may additionally outputinformation about a representative's performance. For example, arepresentative may use his PDA to access information about hisperformance statistics for the last month, including his total number ofaccepted offers, average rate of making offers, and most common offeraccepted.

The player may provide input in the form of comments about the qualityof service provided by the representatives. For example, a player mightbe prompted by his gaming device to answer a few questions about theservice he had received. This data would then be incorporated into theevaluation of the representative.

In one embodiment, a representative's PDA may additionally outputinformation about tasks that need to be performed. For example,information may be output to a representative indicating that he shouldtake out the trash. In one embodiment, representatives may earnadditional commissions by performing tasks. For example, arepresentative may be prompted, “If you get a drink for this player,then you will receive 15 points.” Examples of tasks include assistingplayers (e.g., getting drinks, providing directions, instructing aplayer how to play a game) and maintenance activities (e.g., cleaning upspilled drinks, cleaning ashtrays).

Call Center Presents Offer

According to one embodiment, a representative may use a communicationdevice (e.g., a telephone) to communicate with a player (e.g., presentan offer to the player).

A player may operate a communication device in order to speak with therepresentative. One form of communication devices comprises a built-intelephone on a gaming device. The telephone may ring whenever therepresentative would like to make an offer to the player (e.g., inresponse to a trigger event). The player may need only pick up thetelephone handset in order to hear the offer.

One form of communication device comprises a cellular telephone (e.g.,the player's personal cell phone). The player may provide his cell phonenumber to the casino when he signs up for a player tracking card.

One form of communication device comprises a home telephone (e.g., in anembodiment where the player is gambling over the Internet).

One form of communication device comprises a streaming videophoneconnection in an Internet browser pop-up window (e.g., in an embodimentwhere the player is gambling over the Internet).

A representative may not be present on the floor of a casino whencommunicating with the player. Instead, the representative may be anoperator at a call center. One advantage of this arrangement is thatrepresentatives may be able to provide more offers to players, since therepresentative need not spend time walking around the casino.

In one embodiment, the representative acts at the direction of anotherperson who provides instructions through any of a number of devices,such as an audio output (e.g., an earpiece communicating wirelessly witha transmitter) or a textual or graphical output (the display of a PDA).

MLM

According to one embodiment, a player may perform the job of arepresentative. That is, a first player may view an offer and thenpresent this offer to a second player. The second player may then chooseto accept or reject the offer. If the second player accepts the offerand performs an activity specified in the offer, then he will receive abenefit. In addition, the first player may receive a benefit.

Although the present invention has been described with respect to apreferred embodiment thereof, those skilled in the art will note thatvarious substitutions may be made to those embodiments described hereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

In one embodiment, a representative may direct a player to switch toanother gaming device (e.g., a gaming device with a higher expectedpayout amount).

In one embodiment, a representative may perform services for a player,such as digitizing (converting to computer format) a photographpossessed by customer. The digitized image is then transmitted to agaming device, and may even be used in displaying elements of the gameon the gaming device. For example, a portion of the digitized image maybe used on the reels of a video slot machine.

In one embodiment, a representative may be directed by a representativedevice to (i) help a player carry coins or tokens to a change booth,(ii) sell gambling insurance to a player, possibly explaining premiumcosts and benefits of various policies to the player, (iii) take sportsbook wagers from a player, (iv) gamble with the player, either at agaming device or without the aid of a gaming device, (v) assist a playerin checking in or out of a hotel, (vi) deliver food to a player, (vii)explain the rules of a game or of a gaming device to a player, (viii)provide the player with a device that allows the player to summon therepresentative, or summon any other representative; and/or (ix) go meeta player at a time and/or location previously requested by a player.

In one embodiment, the player may have the capability to indicate thathe is not willing to speak with a representative. For example, thegaming device may provide an appropriate control (e.g., a “Do NotDisturb” button) that communicates such an intent to the centralcomputer, or indicates such intent to a representative in the area(e.g., causing the background of the display of the gaming device todisplay a specific symbol readily seen by someone nearby).Alternatively, the player may have another device (e.g., provided by arepresentative, a casino for hotel) that (i) communicates with thecentral controller to indicate that he is not willing to speak with arepresentative, and/or (ii) indicates such intent to a representative inthe area (e.g., a flashing red LED readily seen by someone nearby).

In one embodiment, a representative may comprise a monitor (e.g., alarge flat panel display located in the ceiling of a casino) whichdeploys and is visible to players at various times as directed by thecentral computer or people (e.g., other representatives).

In one embodiment, a representative may be a mechanical device directedto move by the central computer or people (e.g., other representatives).

In one embodiment, a representative device may output all or a portionof the offer to a player. For example, the representative device mayinclude an audio output (such as a speaker) that informs a player ofcertain details of an offer.

1. A method comprising: selecting a recipient of an offer from a list ofplayers in a casino; determining the offer which includes an activityfor the recipient to perform and a plurality of free credits for play ofa gaming device for the recipient if the activity is performed;determining a representative to provide the offer to the recipient;determining a device associated with the representative; wirelesslytransmitting the information to the device; wirelessly transmitting tothe device instructions to provide the offer to the recipient;subsequently determining whether the recipient has performed theactivity; and providing, to the recipient, the plurality of free creditsfor play of the gaming device if the recipient has performed theactivity. 2-36. (canceled)